IM-style email app Ping is now called Hop after a naming dispute – with a golf club company

Ping, the app that reimagines email as an IM-style activity (read our full review) has today relaunched under the name Hop after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the maker of Ping golf clubs. We’re not sure how anyone could confuse golf clubs with an app, and we don’t know if Ping attempted the same challenge when Apple launched its failed social music service of the same name. Either way, Hop is a nice enough alternative.

The app has been updated with an improved Compose interface, automatic profile photo sync, faster message loading and more. While there’s still a Mailbox-style queuing system in place for new users, Hop promises to let people in as quickly as possible. But it can’t help you get a hole-in-one.

Martin Bryant Editor-in-Chief at The Next Web. You can find him on Twitter, subscribe to him on Facebook, circle him on Google+ and visit his personal site. He's based in Manchester, UK and has a thing for quirky American music and Japanese video games.